Accessibility in the News – February 1, 2019

Accessibility in the News — 2/1/19.

NOTE: To get news like this every week in your inbox, before it hits our website, subscribe to our Accessibility in the News e-newsletter. There are no ads or graphics, and we never send spam. Just use the sign-up form on this page to subscribe and stay up to date!

National News (U.S.)

Announcing “Access,” a Short Film About Accessibility

Today I released Access, my short documentary about accessibility. It follows Cory Joseph through a typical day, showing how he uses his smartphone, Braille display, tactile watch, and guide dog (named Vine) to navigate the world. I hope you watch it, and I hope it inspires you to make your work more accessible to more people. I started work on this film in 2015. Yeah, it’s 2019 as I write this. I took my time. Here’s what happened, short version: I met with a bunch of experts and interviewed them about accessibility in 2015…

How My Brain-Damaged Mother Changed How I Look at Interface Design

My mom is an O.G. console cowgirl, a real-life hidden figure. Working for Ma Bell in the early ’70s, she was responsible for administrating some of the most powerful computers then in the country, the ones that drove our telephone systems. “I’m one of only seven people who know how to program these,” I remember her once bragging as she swept her hand across a clean room the size of an aircraft hanger filled to the ceiling with blinking, whirring mainframes. But Sally Brownlee isn’t so good with computers anymore. Last March, she was hit by a car while walking her dog…

Governments remaking their websites to serve the disabled. One city went to extremes

In the wake of a lawsuit against Manatee County, the county and other local governments are scrambling to make sure their websites comply with a federal law requiring they be accessible to residents with disabilities. One city, Bradenton Beach, has gone to the extreme of taking down its website until it can construct a new one. Manatee County recently settled a lawsuit filed by a resident who argued the county’s website, www.mymanatee.org, did not comply with a portion of the Americans with Disabilities Act that went into effect in January 2018…

Addressing Accessibility Concerns At Mt. Hood

In discussions about inclusion, people with disabilities are often forgotten, despite accessibility being something that affects people of all minority groups. Think about the last time you saw someone address the various forms of discrimination: They probably listed things such as racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ageism, classism – but did you see the word ableism? Ableism is discrimination and prejudice against people with disabilities. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, nearly 1 in 5 people have a disability…

Fort Collins to focus on equity and access in 2019

A new year is often a time for reflection, and a good time to emphasize the role the city plays in making Fort Collins a place where all can thrive. I want to highlight ways the city is working to ensure the entire community has access to city services. As part of our sustainability goals, the city weaves accessibility into the fabric of the organization and in programs and services we offer. Some of this work involves the Sustainability Services Area. Social Sustainability leads our competitive process, helping distribute about $2 million in federal and city funds to non-profit human service and housing agencies that assist about 20,000 people annually…

How GSA uses AI to keep agencies on the right side of the law

Contracting officers are getting some much needed help to make sure solicitations include language to guarantee accessibility for people with disabilities. Section 508 requires agencies to buy technology products and services that are compliant with accessibility standards. Where no human could review the tens of thousands of requests for proposals (RFPs) that come out every year to make sure they include the correct Section 508 clauses, computers can…

Legislators Push for Better Access to the State Capitol

A North Dakota legislative committee has pressed for upgrades at the state Capitol to make the building more accessible to people with disabilities. The members of the House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee listened to testimony on a legislative measure that would mandate handicapped-accessible parking within 125 feet (40 meters) of the Capitol public entrance, the Bismarck Tribune reported. The Capitol has two handicapped-accessible parking spaces more than 350 feet (105 meters) from the south entrance, which is the door the public has been required to enter through since security measures were implemented two years ago…

If The Government Doesn’t Care About Accessibility Why Should It Care About AI Bias?

The age of Twitter Democracy has given way to the era of Instagram Democracy. A younger generation of elected officials in the US and across the world are increasingly turning to a visual-first world to communicate with their constituents, letting them see the innerworkings of government through their own eyes, from photos of them at work to livestreamed viral videos designed to rally their bases. Unfortunately, this transition is making government increasingly inaccessible to those with differing physical abilities, reversing almost overnight decades of work on improving accessibility…

There’s no reason not to travel

Film Director Peter Jackson’s new World War I documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” is a powerful story told using 100-year-old film and advanced computer technology. “They Shall Not Grow Old” relied also on the expertise of a deaf-from-birth forensic lip reader. She read the lips of WWI soldiers in the old film and translated their words. As a result, said a documentary team member, “These men [who have] been dead for years, …and [now] we’ve got [them] actually speaking.”…

Always Use the Microphone- The future of disability access in libraries

Do I really need to use this microphone?” Kate Deibel opened her session, “Pushing on the Frontier: Disability Access and the Future of Libraries” on Saturday, January 26, at the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle, with this all-too-common question to make a point: “Always use the microphone. It’s one of the most important and easiest things you can do.” It helps people with auditory and attention issues, and is the first step needed for live captioning. Unfortunately, solutions to disability access issues are not all so straightforward…

More Than 75 New York Galleries Are Slammed With Lawsuits for Allegedly Violating the ADA

Dozens of New York galleries, including Marian Goodman, David Zwirner, and Gagosian, have been hit with lawsuits alleging they are violating the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) because their websites are not equally accessible to blind and visually impaired consumers. Art galleries are the latest business sector to be targeted with a wave of such lawsuits. Thousands of other businesses, including hotels, resorts, universities, and restaurants have been served with similar complaints last year…

A Champion for Accessibility

Making all higher education materials available to all students — despite challenges they may face — is a daunting, but obtainable goal, as Philip Voorhees sees it. This goal of total accessibility has driven his career since the late 1990s. That’s when Voorhees, who now heads UNLV’s office of accessibility resources, began changing the way digital media in information technology and assistive technology interact to help students with disabilities navigate the expanding digital landscape of college life…

A Mother’s Fatal Fall on Subway Stairs Rouses New Yorkers to Demand Accessibility

TransitCenter maps out the next 50 subway stations that should be made accessible in NYC

Malaysia Goodson entered a Manhattan subway station on Monday night pushing a stroller. Her 1-year-old daughter, Rhylee, was nestled inside. Ms. Goodson, 22, of Stamford, Conn., had brought her along on a shopping trip to the city. Like so many New York City parents, Ms. Goodson faced a familiar but perilous challenge: hauling her stroller and daughter down the steps of a station that, like most stops in the city’s creaking subway system, had no elevator. As Ms. Goodson made her descent, she fell, tumbling down a flight of stairs and onto the subway platform at the Seventh Avenue station, at 53rd Street, officials said…

Audit flags 200-plus accessibility issues in Amherst-Pelham schools

A district-wide audit of accessibility in Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools shows that all six school buildings have a long list of areas that do not conform with state and federal accessibility requirements. Problems in the draft report, presented at the Jan. 22 School Committee meeting, include a lack of Braille signage, inaccessible routes to playgrounds and sports fields and problems of accessibility in bathrooms. In total, the report identified more than 200 areas of the buildings that do not comply with federal and state regulations…

Accessibility forum fills up; students frustrated

On Tuesday afternoon, Brandeis students, faculty and staff met in Levin Ballroom in Usdan Student Center and discussed their often-frustrating experiences with accessibility on campus. University Provost Lisa M. Lynch began the forum by acknowledging the University’s accessibility shortcomings. “Historically colleges and universities, … including Brandeis University, have addressed issues of disability policy and accessibility on campus, and in particular accessibility for students, through a dedicated office of disability services.”…

Aquatica Orlando Was Just Named The First Autism-Certified Water Park

Aquatica Orlando just became the first water park to earn the title of certified autism center from the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards. The park, which is part of SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, features a quiet room and low sensory area for guests. IBCCES, which also has certification programs involving disorders like anxiety and dyslexia, trained the majority of Aquatica employees who interact with guests to have a thorough understanding of autism…

Municipal Liability Under the ADA for Website Inaccessibility

Many business owners have faced litigation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by disabled individuals who claim the businesses’ websites are inaccessible. Now, many plaintiffs are turning their attention to municipalities and their websites. The ADA was enacted decades ago, before companies or municipalities even had websites. Yet courts across the country repeatedly have held that the law applies to internet accessibility, resulting in an increasing trend in ADA litigation over websites…

New report shows Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools not up to accessibility standards

A new report shows the Amherst-Pelham Regional School district has hundreds of problems when it comes to accessibility for people with disabilities. A district-wide audit of accessibility in Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools shows that all six schools have a list of areas that do not comply with state and federal accessibility requirements. That list was presented at a school committee meeting on January 22. The problems include a lack of braille signage, accessibility in bathrooms and inaccessible routes to playgrounds. In total, the report found more than 200 issues…

Debate over whether the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) applies to websites has been raging for years—mostly in the federal courts. As happens all too often, federal legislators and regulators have remained mostly mute, leaving judges to resolve this thorny question. This default appeal to the judiciary, which has produced divergent decisions, deprives website owners the consistent and transparent fair notice that the free-enterprise system needs (and that businesses deserve under our Constitution) to function…

Jack Fact —In 2017, 18.7 percent of people with a disability were employed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, compared to 65.7 percent for those without a disability. And the unemployment rate for people with a disability was 9.2 percent, more than double the 4.2 percent rate for the rest of the population.

International News

How a new technology is changing the lives of people who cannot speak

Last November, Joe Morris, a 31-year-old film-maker from London, noticed a sore spot on his tongue. He figured he’d bitten himself in his sleep and thought nothing more about it until halfway through the winter holidays, when he realised the sore was still with him. He Googled “cut on tongue won’t heal” and, after sifting through pages of medical information on oral cancer, he decided to call his doctor. The cut was nothing, Joe was sure: he was a non-smoker with no family history of cancer. But he’d make an appointment, just in case…

Victorious Festival receives award for commitment to accessibility for deaf and disabled music fans

Victorious Festival is proud to announce they’ve been awarded Silver on Attitude is Everything Charter of Best Practice for their commitment to being accessible to Deaf and disabled music fans. “It has been an absolute pleasure to support Victorious to achieve Silver on our Charter of Best Practice. We’ve been really impressed how the festival have engaged as a whole staff team, including undertaking Disability Equality Training and being responsive to customer feedback…

Today, Kate Young, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility, visited two Windsor organizations whose projects have received financial support from the Government of Canada. Parliamentary Secretary Young’s first stop was at the Windsor branch of the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario, where she announced over $900,000 in continuation funding for the Y Opportunities Employment Support Program, which assists persons with disabilities who face barriers to employment…

The Right Fit matches wheelchair users with limited number of accessible rental suites

His last one just wasn’t designed for someone like him in an electric wheelchair. Living there meant he was reduced to microwave meals. Despite its limitations, he had no choice at the time but to move in. After suffering a stroke that paralyzed him on his left side when he was in his mid-40s, Haffey spent six months in rehabilitation at GF Strong. When that came to an end, he spent a short while in transition housing before moving into a senior’s building in the West End. He was so young in comparison to the other residents he had to get special permission to move in…

Feds give $1 million to help people with disabilities in Windsor area

The federal government announced Friday it is handing out more than $1 million to several Windsor organizations to improve accessibility and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The biggest beneficiary is the YMCA. The organization will receive $900,000 over three years for its Y Opportunities Employment Support Program, which helps people with disabilities who face barriers to employment. “This announcement is really going to help the YMCA of southwestern Ontario, and specifically Windsor, for people with disabilities who are trying to get a job and actually keep a job.”…

Industry ministry asked to develop disability friendly transportation

Iran’s Welfare Organization has asked the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade to develop disability friendly transportation in the country, an official with the Organization has said. People with disabilities should have access to public transportation, Mehr news agency quoted Ebrahim Kazemi Momensaraei as saying on Thursday. In order to provide this group of people with accessible transportation and vehicles Welfare Organization has led talks with ministry of industry, he explained…

Lanka’s disabled public cheated of full access to public resources

Despite strong laws, little has been done to make public buildings and transportation accessible to people with disabilities. “Laws regarding disability accessibility exist but through inspection, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) found buildings that failed to fulfill the requirement,” commission Chairperson Dr. Deepika Udagama said. The question was, how had those buildings been given a Certificate of Completion given their failing, she queried…

New alliance to push for more accessible online services

Shanghai will establish an alliance to make Internet services more accessible to aged and disabled people, the first of its kind nationwide, Shanghai Daily learned during the ongoing annual plenary session of the city’s political advisory body. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, together with top dot-com firms, will establish an “Accessibility Alliance” probably in the first half. It will solve problems raised by several Shanghai CPPCC members, who mentioned aged people don’t know how to use online services like online reservation, taxi-hailing and food delivery…

Accessibility of Science to Persons with Blindness: Miles and Miles To Go

In my earlier post, I spoke about the legal framework for access of information and data to persons with blindness and other disabilities from the copyright and disabilities statute perspectives. In the article, I pointed out that access has been placed at less than one (1) percent and that the proportion of access is diminishing as the universe of information is expanding at a rapid rate. Sources and forms of information are changing so fast that that accessibility is finding it impossible to catch up for various reasons…

Researchers develop app to improve accessibility

Researchers of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe have developed a new application, currently in beta, to facilitate the movement of people around the city of Valencia (Spain), especially those who have temporary or permanent reduced mobility. Furthermore, it will warn users of any urban barrier in a simple and intuitive way. Therefore, it is a tool of great interest for the government, as it will facilitate the diagnosis of the status of the various neighbourhoods as regards accessibility and, ultimately, help plan investments and interventions to improve this matter…

Mandy Penney is small in stature and speaks softly, but don’t be fooled — she’s commanding. During a coffee break at the #RisingYouthpreneurNL conference connecting youth with disabilities to entrepreneurial experts — an event created and organized by Penney — she discussed passionately how she hopes to make businesses more accessible. As a training support facilitator with InclusionNL, Penney helps business owners become more inclusive and accessible to patrons…

Wheelchair accessibility guide launched for the Irish outdoors

The Irish Wheelchair Association has partnered with Sport Ireland to launch a guide designed to help wheelchair users get more physically active – by enabling them to explore the ‘great Irish outdoors’. The Great Outdoors – A guide for Accessibility provides information, advice and guidance to organisations and individuals responsible for outdoor environments – including trails, greenways, public parks, beaches, waterways and the built environment…

Accessibility audit up in 3 Antique towns

The Provincial Disability Affairs Office (PDAO) together with the other concerned government agencies will be holding accessibility audit on the three remaining towns this coming February. Paolo Castillo, who heads the Provincial Disability Affairs Office (PDAO), said in an interview Monday, they started the accessibility audit last year with the goal of assisting the 18 local government units in the province to comply with Batas Pambansa 344 or the law that mandates institutions to install facilities and other devices for the mobility of disabled persons…

Expense myth is no excuse for ignoring accessibility

It doesn’t require a massive financial outlay to make your hospitality business accessible to people with disabilities and you will reap a good return on investment, according to a panel of industry accessibility experts. The findings emerged at The Caterer‘s roundtable discussion on accessibility, in partnership with the Blue Badge Access Awards, which took place at InterContinental London – the O2 on Monday. The panel agreed that becoming more accessible is both economically attractive and common sense…

New Zealand launches accessibility guide

“Access to public buildings is a basic human right and New Zealand building legislation supports this. The Buildings for Everyone guide encourages building owners and designers to consider the needs of all users of public buildings right from the start,” said minister for building and construction Jenny Salesa. The term ‘public building’ broadly means any building that members of the public can access, but does not include private dwellings, said the government…

New digital platform improves travel for passengers with reduced mobility

The £1.4 million Train Operating Companies (TOC Ability) research and development project has released its final report, which demonstrates how digital technology can be harnessed to enhance the accessibility and inclusivity of rail services for customers with reduced mobility. The project’s trials featured scenarios which disabled passengers regularly experience, on long and short distance train journeys, with routes operated by different TOCs and interchanges of varying complexity., on long and short distance train journeys, with routes operated by different TOCs and interchanges of varying complexity…

Machu Picchu now wheelchair accessible

Machu Picchu is estimated to be about 600 years old. But it has only been fully wheelchair accessible for a few months. Travel company Wheel the World has developed the first-ever wheelchair-accessible tour of the iconic site in Peru, which is considered one of the wonders of the world. The company was the brainchild of two longtime best friends from Chile — Alvaro Silberstein, who uses a wheelchair, and Camilo Navarro, who doesn’t. Together, they were able to come up with a way for Silberstein and Navarro to hike at Patagonia’s Torres de Paine National Park…

Improving GP practice accessibility

Everyone should be able to access their GP practice, regardless of any physical disabilities or impairments, but this is not always the case. Practice Business speaks to Ian R Goodenough, partner at G2 Architects, to explore what you need to know about ensuring your practice meets accessibility standards – and what action you can take if it doesn’t. The NHS is based upon the principle of equity of access – that every patient should have access to high-quality healthcare – but evidence and research suggests that those living with disabilities can often be disadvantaged…

Scrap $12.65 fee for accessible taxi ride, city report says

Taxis should no longer be allowed to charge $12.65 extra for an accessible cab ride in Winnipeg, says the first annual report on Winnipeg’s vehicle-for-hire industry. “It is unfair to charge a premium fare for a service that is necessary for many passengers with accessibility requirements,” says the city report, which is on the Feb. 5 agenda of the infrastructure renewal and public works committee. The number of vehicles for hire has increased by 400 since the province dissolved the Taxicab Board and handed responsibility for the industry to municipalities on March 1, 2018, says the report, which was made public this week…

Accessibility guide launched for people with disabilities

People with disabilities want to lead fully independent lives and rightfully expect to be able to participate in a range of outdoor activities, sporting pursuits and family trips in the same manner as their family, neighbours and friends. That was the clear message at the launch of The ‘Great Outdoors, A guide for Accessibility’ last week. Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin TD, launched the guide, produced by the Irish Wheelchair Association’s Sports and Access departments, with the support of Sport Ireland and the Dormant Accounts Fund, at the Sport Ireland…

It may be freezing, but the city wants your feedback on changes to sidewalk cafés, patios

At a time when Torontonians are shivering under frigid temperatures, the state of the city’s sidewalk cafés and patios might not be top of mind, but that isn’t stopping city hall from looking for feedback on some major proposals for change. City staff are holding a meeting Thursday evening to hear from the public about proposed measures, such as erecting fencing and planters to make these spaces more detectable for pedestrians, and for visually impaired people using white canes…

Where is TV audio description heading in 2019?

It’s 25 years since the first audio described (AD) programme arrived on UK television (believed to be Coronation Street) and since then the amount of AD television has hugely grown. Last year there were 150,000 hours of it in the UK. Frustratingly for people who are blind or who have sight loss, however, a lot of top shows still aren’t audio described or aren’t available with AD on catch up or on some platforms. Blind audience members can find themselves hooked after a first series of a popular show only to find the second season isn’t audio described…

Music festivals are slowly making progress towards being accessible to disabled people – but is it happening fast enough? Alice Mander shares her experience at this year’s Laneway and offers some suggestions for improving accessibility. Sometimes I want to scream, “Disabled people like to party too!”. Or, maybe more accurately, “Disabled people want to join the throngs of people at St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival too!” St Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2019 was a scorching day with a diverse line-up from “our dumb friend Courtney Barnett” (a quote from the equally cool Camp Cope) to brilliant headliner Florence and the Machine…

Microassist Digital Accessibility Services

Have you received an accessibility demand letter because of your website or application? Please contact us for any questions you have about our accessibility services and how we might support your organization.

Services include:

Accessible Website and Application Development— We rely heavily on accessibility best practices and using HTML5 and ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) standards to build WCAG-compliant and human-tested accessible environments. Our teams are proficient in open source technologies such as WordPress, Drupal and Moodle, as well as custom frameworks in .NET, PHP, AngularJS, and other frameworks. Our Learning and Development team can also help you create accessible custom training.

Accessible Document Services— Whether you’re dealing with a few or a warehouse of Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, or other files, there are several ways Microassist can enable your team to offer documents and materials that meet stringent accessibility standards.

Accessibility Remediation— Our accessibility remediation services help you fix existing materials so that they conform to WCAG, Section 504 and 508, Department of Education OCR, and ADA Title II/III requirements. We remediate websites, applications, documents, and elearning, recommending re-creation when that is more efficient and economical. Especially for website and applications, to find out what is in need of remediation, we’ll start with an Accessibility Audit.

Accessibility Training— With several courses available for developers, testers, and content creators, your team can become equipped to consistently and expertly produce accessible digital products and online environments.

VPAT®Evaluation Services— Primarily used by government purchasers and government vendors during the procurement and sale of ICT products and services under Section 508, a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT) attests to the accessibility of a given product or service. Contact us to make sure the VPAT you write or review is accurate and meaningful.

Footer

As one of Central Texas’s most experienced software education centers, a primary training vendor for the State of Texas, and a Microsoft Certified Solution Partner, Microassist has successfully worked with clients in fields ranging from advertising, real estate, law and politics to state and government agencies.